About DuPage. Politics.

Poll Shows County Gop Isn't So Conservative

There is a perception, fueled occasionally by the antics of county leaders, that DuPage is the home page for the GOP's conservative wing in Illinois.

A recent Tribune poll suggests, though, that the reality is different and that the views of Republican voters in DuPage mirror those statewide.

That DuPage Republicans are more conservative "has always been sort of a myth," says longtime political consultant Joanne Maxwell.

"DuPage has a history of being fiscally conservative," she says. "But on social issues, it really has not been conservative, but rather progressive or what some might even call liberal."

Though Republicans in DuPage appear to support all or most of the GOP agenda in Congress by a slightly greater margin than Republicans statewide--67 percent compared with 60 percent--the numbers are nearly identical on other key measures of voter opinion, according to the poll.

For example, Republicans in DuPage oppose by roughly the same 2-1 ratio as those statewide a strong anti-abortion plank in the GOP platform. And similarly, there is strong support among DuPage Republicans for retired general Colin Powell as the party's nominee for vice president--63 percent in DuPage and 65 percent statewide.

The poll was based on telephone interviews with likely GOP voters, a poll conducted Jan. 19-22 by Market Shares Corp. of Mt. Prospect. The statewide poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The DuPage poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Uppers and Downers: It apparently takes a death to spur the ambitions of would-be County Board members in Downers Grove Township.

Only two candidates jumped into the fray last fall, after veteran board member Barbara Purcell (R-Downers Grove) opted not to seek re-election in District 3, which includes all but a sliver of the county's largest township.

But at least 10 people have expressed interest in filling the vacancy on the County Board that resulted from the recent death of board member Gertrude Coit (R-Darien).

The vacancy will be filled by voters in the general election. County Board Chairman Gayle Franzen has indicated he will appoint as an interim board member whomever party leaders intend to slate in November. Republicans and Democrats will slate candidates because it was too late to add the vacancy to the March primary ballot.

Meanwhile, Darien Ald. Raj Ambay and Russell Horn, a member of the Downers Grove Township board of trustees, are among three candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the two board seats on the primary ballot. The other candidate is board member Patricia Bellock (R-Hinsdale), who is seeking re-election.

Among those who have expressed interest in slating by Downers Grove Township Republicans are Darien Ald. Kathleen Bazon; Duane Bradley, treasurer of the Downers Grove Township Republican Committeemen's Organization; former County Board member Wally Brown; Daena Hinkelman and Cheryl McCarthy, also members of the Downers Grove Township board of trustees; Claire Jaros of Downers Grove; David Kuhaneck, a GOP precinct committeeman in Downers Grove Township; Angelique Maalem, also a precinct committeeman and a community and political activist; Kenneth Ritzert, a retired schoolteacher who has been active in the GOP township organization; and William Turner, a GOP precinct committeeman from Westmont.